Prevention Control

There are no known definitive prevention programs for this disease at the present time. Most of the recommendations for control have been directed against the wildlife involved in the life cycle of Sarcocystis falcatula. At the present time, keeping opossums and other critters out of your barn away from your feed and bedding as well as methods to keep birds out, are the only measures we can recommend at this time. There are methods to carry out the removal of wildlife which can be discussed with your local wildlife officers.

Another method of control may be the feeding of heat-treated cereal grains. Apparently, the process of extruding feeds also results in killing of sporocysts. However, this is not possible in situations where horses are on pasture or are being fed hay. It is known that effective vaccines for protozoal diseases are difficult to produce. Now that this disease has been successfully reproduced in the laboratory, trials can be carried out to determine if vaccination would be efficacious. Hopefully this information will be forthcoming in the not too distant future.